| Psyche | |
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Other Names |
Psyche, Anima |
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First Appearance |
Greek Myth |
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Created by |
Greek Myth |
Origin[]
Psyche showing her jewelry to her sisters.
Psyche is the Greek goddess of the soul and often represented as a beautiful woman with butterfly wings. The name Psyche means "soul" in Greek and was commonly referred to as such in Roman mythology as well, though the direct translation is Anima (Latin word for "soul"). She was born a mortal woman and eventually granted immortality, with beauty that rivaled even Aphrodite, goddess of love.
In her most well known myth, she was given multiple trials to be with her beloved, Eros, also known as Cupid, god of physical love and desire and son of Aphrodite.
She was once a mortal princess whose extraordinary beauty earned the ire of Aphrodite when men began turning their worship away from the goddess towards the girl. Aphrodite commanded Eros make Psyche fall in love with the most hideous of men but the god instead fell in love and carried her off to his hidden palace. Eros hid his true identity and told Psyche she must never gaze upon his face. Her jealous sisters, however, tricked her into disobeying and the angry god forsook her. Psyche searched the world for her lost love and eventually came into the service of Aphrodite.
While Aphrodite had been tending to her son’s injuries, she had learned about the secret marriage between Psyche and her son. When the girl came and begged for forgiveness, the angry goddess had Psyche whipped and tortured. Afterward, she was given barrels of grains, barley, wheat, beans, and poppy seeds mixed together to sort through and was ordered to have them sorted by evening. Psyche broke down in despair, but an ant witnessed the exchange and took pity on the girl, instructing her colony to help sort the grain. Aphrodite, surprised and enraged to see that the task had been completed, gave Psyche a new task.
This time, she was ordered to approach a pack of rams known for being violent and shear their golden fleece to bring back to the goddess. Rather than be killed by these rams, Psyche planned on drowning herself in the river near the pack. As she prepared to do so, the river god Potamoi spoke and said, "Psyche, tried by much suffering, do not pollute my holy waters with your pitiable death." He then instructed her to wait until the rams calmed when the weather was cooler, for the animals would be less likely to attack her. Psyche listened to the river god and waited until it got cooler before she was able to safely shear the fleece off the backs of the rams.
Once that task had been completed, Aphrodite gave Psyche her third task: gather the black waters from the River Styx in a crystal cup the goddess had given her. Arriving near the river, Psyche once again began to despair, for getting to the river itself meant climbing up a treacherous cliff and risking her life. This time, it was Zeus who took pity on the girl and sent his eagle to retrieve the water for her in the crystal cup, thus successfully completing the third task.
For her fourth and final task, Psyche was given a golden box and ordered to travel to the Underworld to retrieve a bit of beauty possessed by Persephone, goddess of spring, and queen of the Underworld. Psyche, believing this last task was impossible, once again decided to take her own life. She climbed a tall tower and prepared to jump, but the tower spoke and instructed Psyche to go to the border of Sparta where she could find a passageway to the Underworld. Upon arriving, Psyche was surprised to find that Persephone willingly filled the box with her beauty. However, on her way back to give Aphrodite the box, curiosity once again overcame her and she opened it. Instead of finding a sample of beauty, she found a cloud of darkness that put her in a deep sleep.
By this point in the story, Eros had fully healed from his injury and took flight to find his love. When he found Psyche, he gently awoke her with an arrow and took the box to Aphrodite before going in search of Zeus to plead his case. The god of the sky agreed to help Eros and Psyche in exchange for Eros’ service the next time a beautiful maiden caught his eye and the deal was made. Zeus arranged an assembly, sending Hermes, the messenger god, to gather the gods together. At this assembly, Zeus warned Aphrodite not to ever bring harm to Psyche again before handing the girl the drink of the gods, ambrosia, which granted her immortality. Afterward, Psyche and Eros were married and a big celebration and feast commenced. From then on, Psyche and Eros had a child, Hedone, the goddess of pleasure, and Psyche became known as the goddess of the soul.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Psyche before Janurary 1, 1929 are in the public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Literary Appearances[]
- The Golden Ass/Metamorphoses
- On the Origin of the World
- The Earthly Paradise (1868)
- Ode to Psyche (1819)
Theatrical Appearances[]
- Psyche (1675)
Comic Books[]
- Popular Romances #11